Kenyan scientist’s relentless crusade against hunger wins her top award

Indeed, many experts believe that unless Kenya goes back to its roots and encourages the growing of indigenous crops like bananas, cassavas, and potatoes, hunger is here to stay.

At a recent workshop on the role of African women in agriculture, Ms Catherine Bertini, a senior fellow with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said the global food crisis was nothing new to poor people who spend a large part of their income on food. “Rising food prices have even made it worse,” she said.

Indigenous crops

But she called the Kenyan food crisis a “matter of urgency,” that can only be solved by facing agricultural issues head on.

Her concern is that Kenya, like other African governments, has not given agriculture the attention that it deserves as the backbone of the continent’s economy.

Indigenous crops in Africa, Ms Bertini said, had the capacity to withstand harsh climatic conditions, thus they are best designed to stave off hunger.

Ms Bertini also praised the role of the African women in agriculture. “The voices of people in agriculture in Africa are the voices of women,” she said.

Women provide 85 per cent of the labour force in African farms, yet they themselves do not own land.

The men control the land, machinery and the marketing of the produce, she said. And due to this land ownership issue, many women, though active in agriculture, do not have access to property.

Credit institutions also bar many women from getting funding as they have no title deeds under their name.

This has contributed to the cycle of poverty and hunger. Her sentiments are echoed by former nominated MP, Prof Ruth Oniang’o, who believes that there is need to empower women farmers.

As for other solutions to the food crisis in Kenya, Dr Wambugu says the Government should come up with policies conducive to food crop farming, as it has done for cash crops.

She adds that the Ministry of Agriculture should not just be concerned with research, but also the deployment of the research product to farmers.

“We also need to change our approach to farming. It is not just about telling a farmer to grow this and that. But where would she sell it?”

She states that creating new markets for agricultural products would help about 10 per cent of Kenyans who depend on food aid each year.